SABA / DIVISIONS

June 2008
Wow just browsing through the links to provinces etc and quite shocked hey and maybe im wrong but no wander its when people ask why the sport isnt very far or moving ahead etc. Look at the provincal sites, half havent been updated in years, all over the show and just looks like one big mess and a joke!!

Guess that answers a lot of questions when you goto something like that.

all i can say is well done to who manages SABA side as thats the only site that appears to be on top of things. the rest looks like fell away many years ago when we lost the SA Bodyboardng mag

Pretty much all the links to the sites look absolutely terrible and really bad site layout!! this is joke and looks like some kid pieced it together with mspaint. if sponsors have to look at it they wouldnt even bother coming back as shows how unprofessional the sport it and its ability to get ontop of things.

sorry just my expression of thought, either love it or hate, maybe do something about it?!

any person can whipe the site clean, download a sick template even for free and make it look awesome for the province. I bet hardly anyone every goes to the Provincal sites as they are so outdated and fulled up with old history which does nothing for the province, sport etc!!

What would you do if you goto company to sponsor trials for free apparel to team memebers or something and they ask to check the provincial site to track things.?!

no comment.... anyone else see this or is it just me?!

whose in charge of WP site management / updates? please be in touch.

thanks

South African Bodyboarding Association 2,789 views

23 Replies

SmT
June 2008
Get with the times, check out FACEBOOK and join the CKZNBA or WPBA Groups, don't know what's happening with the others???
JdV
June 2008
although facebook is a super useful tool for getting info out there etc, a website is still necessary, for example when speaking to a potential sponsor who asks if you have a website, saying.."Well, we've got a facebook group..." probably looks even more unprofessional than having a shitty website.
Elementree
June 2008
I might be speaking out of turn here, but some of the Provinces do try and keep their sites as updated as possible.

The WPBA site, although not visually attractive, does serve a purpose in making visitors aware of upcoming events and sharing a list of Exco members, their roles within the Province as well as their contact details.

Sure the websites aren't top notch and many as you say haven't been updated in years, but the few people in the sport who dedicate their free time to keeping boogers up to date can't hassle everyone to keep their sites up to date - "you can take a camel to water, but you can't force it to drink."

I do agree that many of the Provinces, who actually have websites, have done a shoddy job at keeping them up to date, but that is their responsibility.

I think that it is very tough to blame anyone in particular for not updating sites as often as they should be because many Provinces do not have a Media Liaison who could manage it...What i have gathered in my brief experience of working in the industry is that it is hard to find willing and able volunteers who are able to commit themselves for extended periods of time to bettering bodyboarding and thus we have the problem that the few people who do, do their best can't do everything.

The organisation and running of a Province is no small task, just ask anyone who has been or is involved. The rewards are few and far between, but ever so rewarding once achieved...to see one's Province grow and to see children and adults alike enjoying themselves at contests, leaving venues content after a good day of competition and wanting more.

Our sport is growing, just take a drive to any known surf spot over the weekend or after school...
If there's waves the boogers out number the surfers hands down...

Bodyboarding in my opinion is clawing it's way back onto it's feet...the process is a slow one, but we will get there.

Lets go surf!
CaveMan
June 2008
Heya all,

Just to clarify. Can someone tell me which are the sites that is being referred to? Cause "ALL" is over 5gezilion site on the net.

Undaground to foreground
June 2008
These are the ones below i would say. Most of the sites make no sense, out of date etc etc...

* Western Province Bodyboarding Association
* Boland Bodyboarding Association
* Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal Bodyboarding Association
* Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal Bodyboarding Association

Totally agree with Gareth but if we are such a big and tightly joined community surely there is someone with some good web development skils / website building skills?

Is there anyone with website skills for creating, updating etc?

I believe yes there is a commitee of members for each province and yes there should be voting, agreements etc. BUT there should be one main person who still makes the call and takes ownership over his or her role / section on the commitee. So if someone is Media, yes be open talk etc etc, but you should be held responsible for the updates, contents etc whatever falls behind it. If you cant then allocate someone to do parts for you and if you cant then you shouldnt be on it full stop. Does this not make sense or is there not much logic being held behind it?

From rumours that go around from different people on the commitee half the time i hear the meetings are akward, pissed off members, death stares, ignoring, cant wait for someone to step down etc...if the commitee cant work as one then how can it work?

if you cant change the people change the people

WP for example, sorry cause im just based here at the moment and hear and see what goes on along with all the whining i get from everyone about the sport....

How frequent are these meetings / agendas? Once every two weeks? What happens, whats discussed etc? Shouldnt these points / actions be put forward for the province to see on the site also not just some top secret stuff that comes out and happens when it does?!

ie, if agenda is for more development coaching, strong brand labelling for sponsors, newspaper coverage coming out etc... then surely everyone should see this stuff being updated on the WP site with whats going down?

At the moment all i see about WP as an outside bodyboarder / if i was a person looking to sponsor is Trials are going to be pushed to be completed by end of June 2008 and latest results being 15-Jan-2006 WP Club Contest #1 article written by Jared Houston.

Is this all thats happening and all that WP has to say for itself and whats happening with the future of contests / scene here in Western Cape?

Not to sure if every other single province is going through the same thing but maybe they are and maybe they feel the same way?

Yes facebook is there, but this is more to a means of contacting riders etc as its a bit easier as the main website which should be more key has no effect and does nothing, you might as well get rid of the website then and save money on the webhosting fees / package?!

WP - Who takes the minutes from the meetings that are held? is there one individual person or is it working on a rotating bases per meeting? If you say that you are having these meetings and no one it taking notes, minutes etc how do you track your progress? The person who does the minutes should have a day / two the most to summarize up the minutes and email them out to the commitee. Media / Website person should update site as needed and done. Its only every two weeks to be done i believe or am i wrong?

Yes i dont ride for WP and doesnt really phase me to ride contests, not my scene ill be straight out honest. BUT as i say i do speak to a lot of bodyboarders from the area, in the water, at the shops etc etc and they always wander and ask questions about provincial matters, happenings with the sport and not most of them dont really bother much as no feedback / updates etc.

just my expression of thoughts and freedom of speech!! hahaaaa cool hope everyone is doing well, yes might be strong but yes maybe it is needed?

Who manages the WP site Gareth? Can you let me know....

thanks
June 2008
ps - yes i know its all volunteer work and you get voted onto the commitee if you put your name forward what not which is very cool!

but you probably have 100 maybe more bodyboarders eager to jump the moment you ask to get them involved in it somehow as they all want to help see the sport develop and grow

If its someone at schools - media person or whoever contact schools bodyboard captain, get them to push out to the riders and give them the responsibilty as they are captain and they want to feel good about helping out and making a difference as the reward might be priceless but its worth it anyday
Elementree
June 2008
Wow...WP are feeling the burn of having you live in Cape Town!...

Ok on the WPBA website issue...

1. I was given the password to change the details about the committee, but didn't need to use the password again and have subsequently deleted the email that contained it.

2. I don't know exactly how much could be changed on the WPBA website.

3. I agree that it would be sick to have a solid snazzy website to which prospective sponsors could be directed, but i don't think that it is the be-all-and-end-all of a sponsorship proposal - it is just fancy window dressing.

4. I suppose that as WPBA Media Liaison it would be my duty to update the site, but i didn't see much point when most people involved view sixty40 anyway and articles i write for WP are linked to the WPBA website.

5. The only update i haven't given is the update as to how things went at WPBA Trial 3, but that is another story, part of which is my fault.

6. It is not easy to get all of your ducks lined up and have everything function smoothly 100% of the time. The committee is small, we all have day jobs and some of us work jobs on the side. So finding time to squeeze everything into is a balancing act at the best of time - i speak personally here.

6. As far as the future contest scene goes in the WP...well we have Trial 3 Juniors, Pro and DK still to do, Trial 4 and WP Champs...thats about it and the dates for those, other than the above Trial 3 dates, which were decided on last night at our 5 hour WPBA meeting, have been posted and advertised for some time now. So that is about it as far as the contest scene in WP...except maybe some contests run by other groups or organisations.

On the updates issue...

1. I have done my best to ensure that WPBA members are informed of things like changes to dates, contact info, contest write-ups, but like i say it is not easy to get everything all in place at the right times and often it is needed that dates be changed etc...at the drop of a hat and i am not always available to do work for WPBA and sometimes things get done slowly but surely - i try my best.

2. We do take minutes, but those minutes are generally for our use only and would be of very little interest to the general public. I mean do you really want to know which one of us is going to be buying the cookies for the next meeting or who we will be sending to pick up our rash vests? NO...I thought not, but if there was any ground breaking news i would inform you.

3. Certain points of action, which are of importance to WPBA members will be put forward to them in the coming days - probably later today - but for the most part we as a committee must decide on what would be best for the Province and a majority vote on the committee is in my opinion the way forward. It would take too long to make decisions if we had to ask all the members if we could go ahead with something...so the committee are left to choose.

On this note...

So if someone is Media, yes be open talk etc etc, but you should be held responsible for the updates, contents etc whatever falls behind it. If you cant then allocate someone to do parts for you and if you cant then you shouldn't be on it full stop. Does this not make sense or is there not much logic being held behind it?
Be my guest buddy...do you want the job?

It is not always as straight forward as being the only person responsible when you work on a committee.
I as the media person am not the only one making decisions and often i am left to broadcast decisions that might anger WPBA members and sometimes those decisions are made at the last minute - not everything is perfect...whats that saying?..."Don't shoot the messenger"

Ah...one of the joys of being involved in bodyboarding - LOVE.
June 2008
Ahh its good old Gareth, i love rockin your boat there haha...

Good times none the less... well if you can find the password more info about the site i can have a look see sometime and see what ammendments can be done to spice it up. If there updates etc that are needed, have logon details etc let me know / address the email to me also and can upload / make the changes needed if that would be of help? Dont mind helping out if need be as work with IT also and pretty fluent in this sort of stuff, sometime helps cause a lot of people dont understand much about the back end of IT geeky lame talk...

wow what you guys get upto for 5 hours last night?

yes cookies are important and want to know what flavour you are buying first for my diet needs

see what you can track down about the passwords for access etc, maybe we can go through it and i can be your PA to assist with updates what not. Yes im online most of the day everyday etc as sad as it is..but can use a bit of time here and there to upload results, info etc

not really facebook though as blocked at the office and not a big fan of it either being swamped with a million requests cause someone did this or that to you everyday and add the application
Elementree
June 2008
Funny ha ha...

I'll see what i can do about the password and look into what kind of updates we would be allowed to make.

Last night we spoke about everything to do with WP - Schools league - Sponsors(good one guys - high 5), rankings, progress etc... Trials & proposed dates for Trial 3 re-run, Development, Media, WP Champs - sponsors, WPBA Prize-Giving 08 - Venue, Entertainment, Awards, Food & Drink, Costs...SA Champs - Travels, Accommodation, Costs, WP Judge selection etc...

Then we discussed other pressing issues...and some top-secret plans of world domination...i could tell you, but i would have to kill you!
Kelly
June 2008

Mark Clark wrote:
These are the ones below i would say. Most of the sites make no sense, out of date etc etc...

* Western Province Bodyboarding Association
* Boland Bodyboarding Association
* Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal Bodyboarding Association
* Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal Bodyboarding Association

Totally agree with Gareth but if we are such a big and tightly joined community surely there is someone with some good web development skils / website building skills?

Is there anyone with website skills for creating, updating etc?

http://www.sabaonline.co.za, http://www.skznba.co.za & http://www.sixty40.co.za/wpba run off the sixty40 database and can be set-up for each and every province & club as a free service. This has been offered to all organisations but these are the only 3 which have taken up the offer.

However, with the exception of WPBA they are not being kept up to date and I will say that none of them are being promoted in any way by the organisations. The simplest way to promote the sites is to include the url in your signature on any communication but I don't see that happening and traffic stats show me that only 34 people visited WPBA site last month, 48 visited SABA and 4 visited SKZNBA websites.

WPBA should get their domain.

I'll put my hand up and say that these are not the smartest looking sites and I have thought about updating them a little bit but if the organisations are not keen then on running a website then it is not worth me putting in any effort.

The aim with these sites was to provide each organisation with an online presence for their members and for promoting bodyboarding in their region. There is effort involved but it is not a lot and it if no-one has any time then you draft in someone else to help. Adding content to the website is simply a matter of filling in a form so it is not a lot of effort. In the long run this will end up saving time on queries if everyone knew that all the info was on the website.

Rather than having a go or defending my involvement here ... I would just like to try encourage the organisations to use this service and if you guys as riders/members want it then I think you should voice your opinion because no-one is going to set-up a website if they think no-one is bothered about it.
June 2008
well put kelly!

either way everyone is pretty much behind supporting the sport, its just getting the right means of communication across
Spy Dude
June 2008
I are a web designer, but i are very busy and stuff. When last did you see me in the water? Ya.. like yonks ago! Sad but true, money talks and bullshit walks. Kelly offers a free service, use it or loose it.
Make something in Joomla then gareth can do it all.
JdV
June 2008
i'm also a web designer/developer, part time, while i study IT, but as spy said..time isn't always freely available..i've offered to do a site for free for ckznba, but really just haven't had the time to get anything done...here's an idea, what about a coordinated joint-effort, but those in the know, to develop some kind of well functioning general template for all the provincial organisations, which could be integrated with the sixty40 database, as well as customized to an extent for each different province?(eg. different colour schemes, images etc.)

this could work as it would be less taxing of our time..
Kelly
June 2008

JdV wrote:
here's an idea, what about a coordinated joint-effort, but those in the know, to develop some kind of well functioning general template for all the provincial organisations, which could be integrated with the sixty40 database, as well as customized to an extent for each different province?(eg. different colour schemes, images etc.)

this could work as it would be less taxing of our time..

This exists already and as mentioned above has been offered to all organisations. It is nothing flashy but it does the basics - news, calendar, results & rankings.

FYI - Sean Tickner has read the above and has offered to manage a site for CKZN.
Pi bodyboards
June 2008
Hi everyone.

Ok,reading through all of your responses and issues i hereby propose that as from now WPBA will have a competition on to give WPBA a new look website and a brand spanking new logo.

Prizes will be up for grabs!!

Details will follow.

I hope to see some seriously sick designs.

Yours Sincerely

Deon Meyer
WPBA Chairman
Jmo
June 2008
I'm not a web geek in any shape or form, but in my mind, something with a simple content management system that runs off a moderately customisable template and is useable by the regular people that are typically on these committees would be a step forward. Wordpress comes to mind, because we used it for the Cape Town Ultimate site (http://www.capetownultimate.co.za for those of you with the time), and it's been fairly cool and useable...

...what? Thats all that 2c gets you these days.
Kelly
June 2008

Pi bodyboards wrote:
Hi everyone.

Ok,reading through all of your responses and issues i hereby propose that as from now WPBA will have a competition on to give WPBA a new look website and a brand spanking new logo.

Prizes will be up for grabs!!

Details will follow.

I hope to see some seriously sick designs.

Yours Sincerely

Deon Meyer
WPBA Chairman

OK ... I need to stop this right here before anyone wastes any time on this so I'm going to post a reply rather than email you.

1. Nothing decent will ever get done if you are offering a "prize" in return for work. If you're paying bananas, you'll get monkeys.
2. The WPBA is currently hosted by us (sixty40) which has been a free service. It was developed at the request of WPBA and I have had to deal with countless issues due to mismanagement from WPBA side. i.e. In the space of 2 years I think 5 different people have been responsible for it with little to no handover.
3. I would not suggest that you host it yourselves but you are free to do so. All I would ask is some professional courtesy and have a word with me before doing so. If you are proposing that I do any work then you plain and simply cannot do that on my behalf.
4. I'm sure a decision like that should go through the committee? And at the very least past the person who has to manage the website otherwise you may be making their life more difficult and in the end lose the person who donates their time to keep the website up to date.

Let's start with baby steps before trying to shoot for the moon. Here are a few suggestions:

1. WPBA should purchase their own domain name.
2. Start posting updates. None of the provinces nor SABA are currently posting updates. You guys are running the sport in your jurisdiction so what are you doing to help develop the sport in the region? Are you driving the sport in your province or are you simply making sure you get a team to SA Champs and host the Cape Classic? If you're doing more than that then tell people!!! We want to know.
3. Ensure that there is coverage of all WPBA events - I always hear mention of the schools league but there is never any press release or results posted on the WPBA website.
Pi bodyboards
June 2008
ok kelly maybe that was a bit premature,sorry, will deff chat to u over email.so we can add some colour to our website,nothing major.

would most def want to go through the right channels first and obviously not upset anyone.

cheers mate!
Spy Dude
June 2008
JOOMLA! all the way and i are not a monkey.
Spy Dude
June 2008
oh and Kelly for President! Love a dude who calls it like he sees it and he dont have no blinkers on.

Mark you sure have opened a can of worms here. ... Nasty maggots!
June 2008
Cool sounds epic and great response / feedback from everyone....

yes as kelly says you can pay with bananas and get monkeys, but why not invest more then bananas and get banana bread! sorry thought that was funny and cool.. maybe a bad joke

Ja for maybe have opened a can of nasty maggots but im not pointing at anyone or blaming anyone... its just the fact how it is straight up, can either hate it or you can take it on the chin and admit and build on something better and stronger!! So no not just WPBA but all other devisions, kind of was just talking about it as down here at the moment...

Yes as Kelly says there is every friday school comps down at derdersteen and been some really fun epic waves for the schools with some good competition, but no coverage, no media, no updates etc.... maybe adding the school leagues / tables updates to the WPBA site? After all its the upcoming kids that are going to be taking the sport into the future and if we dont look after and invest our time back into it for them then they will drop out and dissapear...last two times ive been down always seen some random guys shooting the school comps, so should be images, results from school captains etc to display, get owes more amped on coming to sixty40 / provincial sites etc

as said, not blaming anyone, its just how it is and can easily been seen from an outside point. As Kelly says it should be up to date with everything and WPBA should be promoting via simple things like email signatures by placing the website address onto it and making people aware of what bodyboarding is and whats happening with it in the province

there is so much potential to grow and so many interested people, just goto get all the ducks in a row and the right ropes in place for who does what, hand overs etc and all the wheels should start to turn smoothly.
Kelly
June 2008

Mark Clark wrote:
Yes as Kelly says there is every friday school comps down at derdersteen and been some really fun epic waves for the schools with some good competition, but no coverage, no media, no updates etc.... maybe adding the school leagues / tables updates to the WPBA site? After all its the upcoming kids that are going to be taking the sport into the future and if we dont look after and invest our time back into it for them then they will drop out and dissapear...last two times ive been down always seen some random guys shooting the school comps, so should be images, results from school captains etc to display, get owes more amped on coming to sixty40 / provincial sites etc

Yes please. All that needs to be done is find a guy/girl from the school who is keen to write - it does not necessarily mean more work for the guys on the committee already. From sixty40 side, we'd love to see more guys with good writing skills coming through the provincial ranks and anyone with this ambition would love the opportunity to get some work published.
MichelleDaniels
June 2008

Kelly wrote:

Mark Clark wrote:
Yes as Kelly says there is every friday school comps down at derdersteen and been some really fun epic waves for the schools with some good competition, but no coverage, no media, no updates etc.... maybe adding the school leagues / tables updates to the WPBA site? After all its the upcoming kids that are going to be taking the sport into the future and if we dont look after and invest our time back into it for them then they will drop out and dissapear...last two times ive been down always seen some random guys shooting the school comps, so should be images, results from school captains etc to display, get owes more amped on coming to sixty40 / provincial sites etc

Yes please. All that needs to be done is find a guy/girl from the school who is keen to write - it does not necessarily mean more work for the guys on the committee already. From sixty40 side, we'd love to see more guys with good writing skills coming through the provincial ranks and anyone with this ambition would love the opportunity to get some work published.

Oooo, love the enthusiam! To take it one step further--growing things in the process--doesn't the school have some journalism/media classes? Where some coordination with the Teacher's to incoorperate some of the kids to either sign-up or appointed to covering event's when they transpire? Just a suggestion, however it appears it would be a way of sparking more interest and getting other's involved. Always important to have a view "key" individuals that are heading up things and responsible to carry out the tasks. Maybe make things easier to have article's/pics/updates submitted ON-LINE to lessen the labor intensity on any ONE individual. Just a thought, Mark. Secondly, featuring different rider's with a pic or two and a short write-up, say: name, city, day's,monthes/year's been riding and maybe what maneuver or what they like or who they admire most in the sport etc. Again, this could be a regular feature involvoing a school class with the hopes of sparking more interest and involvement. IMO, I believe it is important to NOT leave out the groms and even first timer's, recognizing them in taking the first step--remember, "BABY STEPS". Just a few suggestions, hey, take em or leave em
I just took a look at the PROVINCE ASSOCIATIONS FROM THE LINKS ON THIS SITE'S HOME-PAGE as it has been a few month's since I last looked and noticed as well, that some were not being attended to?!
This is great to see a "fire" being lit and growing with the intensification of dreams and ideas.
LOVE what the Boland Association has done, really making it more Professional looking:
http://www.bolandbodyboarding.co.za/

You all have a wealth of talent and it is very cool to see it all come together in a "productive way".
Passion for the sport at it's finest

**EDIT/ADD
The approach is always important as well--
People are always more willing to help out when they feel they are helping out.
"I was wondering if you could help me in/with this..."
And, remember the "props" amongst eachother and keeping a good "one-on-one" communication to lessen and avoid any building feelings of anxiety or bitterness.

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